Background
Joseph Neel Reid was born in 1887 in Macon, Georgia, United States.
Joseph Neel Reid was born in 1887 in Macon, Georgia, United States.
After an early education he went to Atlanta to enter the office of Willis F. Denny as an architectural student. Later he completed a special course at Columbia’s School of Architecture in New York, then spent a year (1907-08) in France while attending Atliers of the Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts.
In the USA Reid began work as draftsman with the New York firm of Murphy & Dana, and in 1909 returned to his native city to open an office under the firm name of Norrman, Hentz & Reid. Later in the year, following the death of the senior partner, Reid and Mr. Hentz carried on work together until 1913 when Mr. Adler joined the organization.
Actively engaged in architectural work until his untimely decease in 1926, Mr. Reid designed or assisted in planning a number of public buildings including the Howard Theatre the Musee, and the Athletic Club in Atlanta, and Homes for Crippled Children built in Greenville, S. C., Shreveport. La.. Chicago, Ill., and Springfield, Mass. His speciality, however, was residential work, and he was highly successful in planning private homes, with the interior decoration, furniture and garden planting tastefully co-ordinated with the house. Largely due to his influence back in the 1920’s, Atlanta became known as a city of beautiful homes.